A variety of spill containment devices or manholes have been employed to prevent contamination of the surrounding environment during the process of filling underground storage tanks with hazardous liquids including fuels like gasoline. Service stations dispensing gasoline, diesel, and other fuels commonly employ underground storage tanks for storing various types of fuels. The underground storage tanks typically include a riser pipe through which the fuel is dispensed from and transferred to the underground storage tank. The riser pipe is connected to and extends upwardly from an opening in the underground fuel storage tank.
A pipe section commonly known as a fill port or nipple is typically connected to the riser pipe. A removable fill cap is usually secured to the fill port or nipple. The fill cap is removed to fill the underground fuel storage tank.
Spill containment manholes or devices have been used to provide access to the fill port of the underground fuel storage tank and prevent contamination of the surrounding environment. For example, fuel can and does spill when the dispensing hose from the fuel truck is connected or disconnected to the fill port. In addition, fuel spills may occur if the underground storage tank is overfilled. The spill containment manholes or devices were designed to trap spilling fuel to prevent contamination of the surrounding environment. Specifically, the spill containment manhole or device surrounds and contains the fill port or nipple. By providing a containment vessel surrounding the fill port, the spill containment manhole or device can prevent fuel spills caused during the process of filing the underground fuel storage tank from contaminating the environment.
The spill containment manhole or device typically includes a removable cover to allow an individual to access the fill cap and fill port. The spill containment manhole or device may have a drain operably connected to the riser pipe to drain any fuel trapped by the spill containment manhole back into the underground fuel storage tank.
Over time the spill containment manhole or device deteriorates making it considerably more likely that a crack or other imperfection will form allowing fuel to leak into the surrounding environment that normally would have been trapped by the spill containment manhole or device. Attempts have been made to provide a bucket or liner that can be inserted into an existing manhole to repair an existing leak or potential leak. One such product is THE LINEBACKER™ made by JGD Products, LLC. This product has several inherent disadvantages. First, the bucket or liner does not extend up to the ground surface. Therefore, the bucket or liner does not isolate the existing spill containment manhole. Rather, at least an upper portion of the existing spill containment manhole must be relied upon to prevent fuel from leaking into the surrounding environment. Further, this design requires a sealant be applied to the vertical wall of the bucket or liner and the adjacent portion of the existing spill containment manhole inside of the containment area of the existing spill containment manhole. Therefore, if the sealing material deteriorates overtime or is incorrectly applied in the first instance, fuel can escape into the surrounding environment through the defective or deteriorated seal. Another disadvantage of this product is that the same removable cover is typically reused. THE LINEBACKER™ bucket or liner does not provide a direct seal with the removable cover. In other words, the removable cover does not seal directly to the THE LINEBACKER™ bucket or liner. Again the bucket or liner fails to isolate the existing spill containment manhole. Rather, at least an upper portion of the existing spill containment manhole must be relied upon to prevent fuel from leaking into the surrounding environment. Another disadvantage with this product is that it uses a bulky connector for connecting the bucket or liner in a fluid tight manner to the fill port and/or corresponding coupling or fitting. This is undesirable as there is limited space. A further disadvantage of this product is that it does not include a vehicle for draining fuel back into the underground fuel storage tank from the bucket or liner.